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Q&A with SI Photographer Heinz Kluetmeier on Shooting Phelps at the Olympics

SI.com, CNN

This amazing shot confirming Michael Phelps' gold-medal victory in the 100 butterfly took a year of planning and, of course, a ton of luck.

Heinz Kluetmeier/SI

Sports Illustrated photographer Heinz Kluetmeier has covered every Olympics for SI (with the exception of Innsbruck) since the Munich Games. He and his assistant, Jeff Kavanaugh, landed the signature sequence of the Olympics: Michael Phelps beating Serbia's Milorad Cavic to the touchpad in the 100 butterfly. Below, Kluetmeier explains how he got the shot and the difference between Mark Spitz and Michael Phelps as photography subjects.

SI.com: You've been a pioneer for underwater sports photography. Getting the Phelps photo really started many years ago, right?

Kluetmeier: I have always been interested in underwater photography and the magazine has a history of trying something different and being ahead of the curve. Often what happens is we do it, it gets into the magazine, and the next year a whole bunch of people who saw it in the magazine and say, "Let's try that." The first time I got permission to put a camera underwater was Barcelona after months of negotiating. I had surreptitiously snuck the camera underwater the year before at the swimming world championships. One of the technical committee members said I could put it in the pool and if someone did not like it, they would pull it out before the race. The guy standing by who was going to help me pull it out of the pool in Perth, Australia was Mel Stewart, the then-world champion and record holder in the 200 butterfly. So in his honor, I threw a camera in the pool for his race in Barcelona. We had a fish eye lens and the water was so smooth during the first lap of his swim, you could read the scoreboard through the water up above him. When we were putting the camera in, I remember an armed guard said, "You cannot put this camera in. It might be a bomb." I finally said to the pool director: I will wear a swimming suit to the pool and if there is a problem, I will jump in and pull it out. There was no problem and it ran in the magazine. Today, more and more people want to do it, so you almost have to ration the space in the bottom of the pool. It is very valuable real estate but guys want to get stroke shots and pretty pictures.

SI.com: When did you start the process for the Phelps photo?

Kluetmeier: We started testing out the live feed from underwater at the world swimming championships in Melbourne, Australia. Then we did some more testing and switched camera systems after the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha. We knew what we wanted to do in terms of the underwater thing, but what we wanted was a live feed from underwater and also the ability to keep a camera underwater for days. So you have to figure out access because you never know what the rules will be when we arrive in Beijing. But people have been gracious and helpful and it is probably been one of the best experiences at the pool. Planning the picture itself took a year. Ultimately, the emotional plan was: Will Michael at this point in the Olympics win all his medals? So here we are at the end of his Olympics and I figure it was about winning or losing. When he swam against his teammate Ryan Lochte, there was a chance Lochte could beat him in the event. So I told the other guys that I thought this was about the touch: Win or lose, it will make a difference. In the 100 butterfly, he is somewhat vulnerable. It's a shorter race. People can thrash out. The pool looks like was washing machine at that point. We thought he might get beat. It is not a pretty stroke picture, but it is a wonderful journalistic moment to show winning and losing of that particular race.

SI.com: Who else works with you to get a series of shots like this?

Kluetmeier: Give complete credit to Jeff Kavanaugh (who has worked with Kluetmeier since 2001). He is my assistant and because I had an operation a month ago, I am not allowed to go in the water now. Jeff put all the stuff underwater and I'd be on the computer directing. We have now developed a system where you can get the image from underwater to the computer. You can look at live usage. We moved along with the technology and it's exciting and fun to go from Nikon to Apple. It is a techie's delight and photographer's dream. Jeff probably spent 40 minutes underwater just to move the camera less than an inch -- he probably used up a whole tank of oxygen adjusting the camera. I wanted to be able to see the full body length, plus the touchpad, plus also be able to start the picture before they hit the water. Then after all that work and all that sweat, things can go wrong. We got lucky. We are shooting eight frames a second. You can miss the touch with a hundred frames a second with a high-def camera. We got lucky because as Michael hit the wall, we got the picture.

SI.com: Where were you during the race?

Kluetmeier: At the top of the pool. Jeff runs the camera. At a certain point, when it is eight frames a second, we just let it rip. When they were done with the medal ceremony, Jeff said, 'You will not believe what we have here.' I looked and said, 'Wow, unbelievable.' The last time I took a shot like that was the Sydney Olympics, when it was a dead heat with the 50 men's race. We got the perfect touch there. That was in mind when I set up this camera.

SI.com: Where does this sequence stand in terms of your portfolio?

Kluetmeier: In terms of Olympic photos, it is near the top for me because it defines a moment that a lot of people did not believe. Look, the Serbians even protested. People don't trust things they cannot see and here we were able to see it. We worked our butts off, we did hard work to get it in place and we got lucky. As did Phelps. He was so lucky to win. Yes, he worked hard for years, he swam his butt off, but then he got lucky. The guy was drifting and Michael got in one more stroke. I bet you it was less than hundredths. I bet it was less than a heartbeat. That's how I'd define it.

SI.com: You have shot Phelps before, right?

Kluetmeier: I shot him for SI On Campus a couple of years ago and we had a lot of fun. We did a Back to School thing with him and we wanted to show his classroom underwater. We found this La-Z-Boy chair, computers, pennants and banners. When Michael showed up, he was totally charmed by it. He was curious about it, engaged. He could not have been a better subject. And, man, can the guy hold his breath underwater.

SI.com: How are things different in these Games compared with Munich?

Kluetmeier: First of all, we didn't have the access we have now. Photographers, at that time, were all forced to shoot from the balcony. The last day when Mark Spitz won his seventh medal, the team carried him around on his shoulders after he won the medal. We were down on the pool deck, which took a lot of negotiating and talking to people. That's the opposite here in Beijing where we really have terrific access.

SI.com: There was no Spitz cover from Munich Games, right?

Kluetmeier: No, because of the whole tragedy with the Israeli team.

SI.com: What happened after Spitz won his seventh medal?

Kluetmeier: Jerry Kirshenbaum, our Olympic writer at the time, knew Mark better than I did. He invited him out to dinner after his seventh gold. This was before the whole thing happened with the tragedy. So Mark was happy to join us and we had a really lovely dinner with some friends. When we dropped him off at the village that night, it was about the time the terrorists were coming into the village. He realized after the fact that he would have been a natural target for terrorists because of his background. He walked back to his lodging in potential mortal danger.

SI.com: What's the most memorable photo you shot of Spitz?

Kluetmeier: I really liked the pre-Olympic cover because it showed him carefree and at the peak of his swimming career. He was a delight to photograph. You could not take a bad picture of him.

SI.com: How is shooting Michael Phelps different than Spitz?

Kluetmeier: I think Mark was a lot more comfortable in front of the camera. He was like that ever since he was a young man that he looked good in front of the camera. He was also relaxed. I think Michael is a great subject as well, but I think Michael is not quite as comfortable with it, not quite as relaxed. But he has gotten much more so. When you compare him from a few years ago, he has gotten much more comfortable.

SI.com: What is the most memorable Olympic photo you've shot?

Kluetmeier: I would have to say the Olympic hockey photo from Lake Placid. That's the only cover we ever ran without cover language. It didn't need it. Everyone in America knew what happened. A close second at the same Olympics was Eric Heiden. The pre-Olympic cover of him was the first time he put on the gold suit. And I have to say the last Olympics I really enjoyed when Michael won his first medal in Athens. It was unbridled enthusiasm. Nothing studied, nothing planned, nothing choreographed. It was, 'Wow, I won.' That was my last Olympic cover.

SI.com: Give us the one Olympic athlete at any time in history you wish you could have photographed?